330 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



July, 1914 



Flowers for 

 Winter Forcing 



study the quality, and select the best stock. Then talk price after- 

 ward. Delivery can be had on some bulbs this month; cold 

 storage lilies of the "rubrum" type are started in quantities at 

 this time; these are usually handled in pots. Freesias can be had 

 now and are usually grown in flats for cutting or pans for con- 

 servatory work. 



DREPARE the greenhouse bed for sweet peas late this month. 

 They prefer a bed that has good drainage, but which is 

 extremely fertile. Incorporate an abundance of good manure 

 and have the soil prepared fully two feet deep. 



Care should be taken at this time with all the various plants 

 which are being carried over in the frames and 

 which are to be forced later on (such as cyclamen, 

 primula, snapdragon). Do not allow them to get 

 pot bound. 



Now is a critical stage in the life of the chrysanthemum as the 

 plants are growing very rapidly at this time and need frequent 

 attention, frequent spraying with abundance of feed either mulched 

 on or applied in liquid form is desirable. Don't let the chrysan- 

 themums become infested with black fly ; fumigation and frequent 

 spraying with insecticides will keep the pest in check. 



TV/flLDEW is the hardest to fight right; now indeed there are 

 more inside rose crops ruined during July and August than 

 in all the rest of the year. The rose plants must be sprayed or 

 they will be destroyed by red spider, but the spraying must be 

 attended to sufficiently early in the day to ensure a per- 

 fectly dry air in the house by night or during dark, 

 dull weather. A little fire heat is good at this season 

 of the year — just enough to dispel the moisture, and an occasional 

 application of flowers of sulphur is very beneficial during dark 

 weather. 



Carnations can be planted indoors late this month or early next 

 month. Of course a great deal depends upon the weather and 

 the type of greenhouse. With the big modern well ventilated 

 houses early planting is desirable; while when poorly ventilated 



Mildew 

 Indoors 



Transplanting 

 Evergreens 



houses are in use the planting is better deferred until quite late. 

 A good economical way to grow ferns for cut green during the 

 winter is to plant some roots along the edges of the walks in the 

 greenhouse. 



T ATE this month, and all of next, you can transplant any 

 evergreens you wish to move around the home grounds. It 

 is not only a very favorable season for the plants, but it takes just 

 so much from the heavy burden of spring. Moreover most 

 country dwellers are at their summer places during July and August 



and they can give the work some personal attention. 

 If you have time to spare, tree surgery on a 



moderate scale can be practised with advantage 

 around the home grounds. It would be far better to consult some 

 specialist if there is any quantity of this work to be done. But 

 there are thousands of cases where a tree dies when a little patching 

 up in time would have saved it. Keep all exposed wood covered 

 with paint; all decay should be scraped out, the surface tarred or 

 any cavity likely to catch water can be filled with concrete. 



'"PHIS is the time to try summer pruning. If you never make a 



start you will never know how efficacious summer pruning in 



the orchard is in the production of fruit; and it is not very hard. 



Keep after the mildew on your gooseberries, with 



a copper mixture or bordeaux. 



Cut the dead flowers from climbing roses just as soon 

 as the plants are through flowering. 



Summer 

 Pruning 



CPRAY the roses of all kinds for the leaf beetle this month, 

 using arsenate of lead and getting at the underside of the leaf. 

 Keep right on clipping hedges where necessary, every clipping 

 improves the hedge. 



_,,. Set your mowing machine high so that you don't ex- 



• c 1 P ose the soil by too close cutting. 



Overhaul the lawn mower to be sure it is in good 

 shape for whatever work is ahead, because next month the tough 

 summer grass will be here and you need a good machine to cut it. 



Qardming at JYa 1^69 



PAUT II. 



{.Continued from June Number) 



J3eing£fie Veracious Jlccount of a Juccessful ' JBattte 6etu/een 

 the Owner and a J^ecaCcitrant Back yard, 6u 



p T"^HE woman who lived 

 here before our ad- 

 vent said that her only 

 regret in departing 

 from the place which she had 

 owned was caused by the fact 

 that she must leave the English sparrows 

 behind. I am sure I wish she had taken 

 them with her. We would never have 

 missed them! 



Unlike some folks, I do not despise these 

 brave-hearted little fellows. Without them 

 we would be well-nigh birdless, for robins 

 and blackbirds are our only visitors even in 

 summer here in the heart of a big city. 

 But more than our share was quartered 

 upon us, and by early summer they had 

 developed an insatiable appetite for greens, 

 refusing longer to be put off with dry bread, 

 and they helped themselves liberally to our 

 young sweet peas and Shirley poppies. 



When I first noticed them at their sur- 

 reptitious feasts, not knowing what else to 



JY2naJ\. MCeo 



do, I would go to the kitchen door, clap 

 my hands, and cry, "Shoo! Shoo!" 



Fritzi, otherwise known as The Woolly 

 Dog, soon came to understand. When in 

 the yard in summer she now watches the 

 plants and drives the sparrows away. She 

 makes a wild plunge toward them scattering 

 them to right and to left, and they fly up 

 into the neighbors' trees, chattering vocifer- 

 ously, and no doubt calling her anything but 

 a decent woman. But there are times when 

 Fritzi is not "on the job." Very early in the 

 morning she is absent, or in warm weather, 

 sometimes, when advancing years and in- 

 creasing flesh make a siesta seem desirable, 

 or even necessary. After such an occasion 

 we found two-thirds of the tiny zinnias 

 missing from our seedbed, and an equal 

 number of young verbenas disappeared 

 with them. As the seedbed had been 



covered a part of the time, in- 

 nocent sow bugs were suspected, 

 for these creatures love darkness 

 rather than light, and likewise 

 enjoy a good meal of seedlings. 

 So The Man who is nothing if 

 not thorough, placed a heavy cordon of 

 sliced potatoes dipped in paris green water 

 around the rows, but to no avail. Then 

 Fritzi was seen to chase sparrows in the 

 vicinity, and we knew the offenders. We 

 laid bright poultry netting over the bed, and 

 had no more trouble there. The birds seem 

 also to have a fear of a white cord. This, 

 stretched before plants needing protection, 

 is advised by English authorities as well 

 as by some colored "uncles" who garden in 

 the South. 



In the winter, weakling that I am, I feed 

 the sparrows, although I fear that I am 

 making trouble more certain for myself 

 during the coming summer. But only a 

 heart of stone could refuse their mute 



